Chapter 34
After Tirami-san finished questioning us, I also collected the reward for defeating the Quad Skeleton and the payment for its magic stone.
That came to 700,000 gold in total.
Over the past two days, I’d been slaughtering monsters at a reckless pace, but the Quad Skeleton’s reward more than made up for it.
It was an unexpected windfall.
I never thought I’d get this much for defeating a single monster. Irregulars must be that dangerous.
――There was some unfortunate news, too.
When Rinka was used as a decoy, those guys stole her luggage.
Then, while fleeing, they ran into a group of Skeletons.
They left most of their own luggage in the dungeon, too—not just Rinka’s.
Anything left for too long—including corpses—is absorbed by the dungeon.
Since her party members had been found guilty, their possessions should normally have gone to Rinka.
But even those were lost.
She probably had some savings at their base, but they were only a D-rank party, so it couldn’t amount to much.
As for Rinka, her sword had broken in the fight with the Quad Skeleton, and her leather armor was in tatters.
She’d been betrayed by her companions, lost her equipment, and was now struggling financially.
It would be extremely difficult for her to make a fresh start as an adventurer.
On her own...
Rinka and I left the hearing room and headed straight out of the Adventurers’ Guild.
After all that commotion, if we lingered, other adventurers would probably come over to ask what happened.
――Good triumphing over evil.
Adventurers, always living with the threat of an unfair death, love stories where the righteous are rewarded and the wicked are punished.
After walking a short distance from the guild, I stopped.
Normally, this would be where we said goodbye.
But this time, I took a step further.
I was being shameless, presumptuous, and acting as if she owed me.
I knew that perfectly well, but I was going to worm my way into her good graces.
It was for her sake, and for mine, too.
“So, what are your plans now?”
“...Nothing.”
“Then come with me for a bit. There’s something I want to talk about.”
I made a point of keeping my tone light and cheerful.
MP’s cheerfulness had helped me, too.
I could have made this as serious as I wanted.
But that... wouldn’t be a good thing.
“............”
Rinka was wary, but she couldn’t bring herself to refuse.
She’d just been betrayed by the companions she trusted.
Even though I’d saved her life, she probably wasn’t in a state of mind to trust someone she’d only just met.
But since she owed me for saving her, she couldn’t simply turn me down, either.
The result of that conflict was... silence.
“Besides, whatever you decide to do next, you can’t exactly go around dressed like that, can you?”
“............”
Staring at her own armor, battered and barely holding together, Rinka remained silent.
“Thanks to you, I got an unexpected bonus. At least let me treat you to a meal.”
“No, I can’t impose on you any further.”
“I’m already involved, so let me stick with you to the end.”
“Why are you going to such lengths for me?”
After hesitating briefly at Rinka’s question, I made up my mind and spoke.
“I was kicked out of my party not long ago, too...”
“What?!”
I dropped my lighthearted tone.
I let the seriousness show beneath my smile.
“Listen to me vent. I’ll listen to you vent, too.”
“............”
“Let’s talk it out and feel better.”
“...All right. Please do.”
“Likewise.”
With her agreement, we headed to a nearby eatery――.